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In: Tasting at Home

Well I have finally made it, well sort of…I’m currently in hotel quarantine, but I have made it to Australia at last! And I have to say I’ve timed my mandatory hotel quarantine pretty well with the kick off of the Olympics. So while I sit in a room for two weeks and watch our elite athletes do their thing, averaging around 50 steps a day myself…it’s a great excuse to catch up on some reading and of course work my way through a few tipples from the hotel wine list.  Top of my reading list this week has been one of my lecturers books:Read More →

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In: English Wine Adventures, Producer Profiles

I had the pleasure of meeting Emma Rice, Head Winemaker at Hattingley Valley and Chair of the Winemaking Society for WineGB, at Hattingley Valley Vineyard in Hampshire recently. Simon Robinson, also Chairman of WineGB, is the proud owner of this ‘quintessentially English’ winery. The vineyard itself is situated on chalky, south-facing slopes 160m above sea level, and the first plantings were in 2008 with the first vintage bottled in 2010 and released in 2013. Simon knew he wanted to create a market leading business and brought in Emma in 2008 to expertly guide the design and build of the now 500 tonne eco-friendly winery. ThereRead More →

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In: English Wine Adventures, Producer Profiles

Greyfriars was established in 1989 by two vets and it’s animal roots are still going strong with two competing horse vets on the site along with a hydrotherapy pool for dogs! The vineyard itself is just off the Hog’s Back (that’s a road name!), very conveniently only a 10-minute taxi ride from Guildford mainline station which is a swift 30 minute fast train from London.  The owners Mike and Hillary Wagstaff took over the vineyard in 2010 after Mike’s company was bought out and, too young to retire, he decided to put his engineering background to a different use. They took over the 1.5 acreRead More →

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In: English Wine Adventures, Producer Profiles

Bruce and Sibylla Tindale’s High Clandon Estate Vineyard in the Surrey Hills boasts spectacular views over gorgeous countryside towards London. It’s a beautiful, peaceful oasis with an award-winning sparkling wine to match…the owner’s have coined ‘quintessence’ (the most perfect example of quality or class) to describe their wine and I think it fits the bubbles and ambience perfectly.  The vineyard is just 1 acre and they make 1 wine producing around 1500-2500 bottles per year depending on the harvest. The vineyard was planted in 2005 and is situated on a chalky limestone South-East facing slope, ideal for the classic champagne varietals of Pinot Noir, PinotRead More →

The Albury Team

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In: English Wine Adventures, Producer Profiles

Nick Wenman has truly turned his dream into a reality in setting up Albury Organic Vineyard. What was intended to be a retirement hobby is now a beautiful boutique organic vineyard in the Surrey Hills, producing 20-25,000 bottles a year from around 15 acres. He and his daughter Lucy, who currently manages the marketing and much more besides for the vineyard, work with a small, dynamic team to deliver delicious results that continue to go from strength-to-strength. The vineyard was planted from scratch in 2009 on southern slopes of the North Downs in the Surrey Hills. This is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (anRead More →

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In: Tasting at Home

Oh to be able to travel again…I know a lot of us are missing the joy a holiday brings – whether that’s to relax, to experience somewhere new or to spend valuable time with loved ones. I, for one, am longing to step onto that plane. So instead of an actual flight this Easter I decided to enjoy a wine flight! A wine flight is really just an excuse to taste a group of wines, typically a similar group or a selection of wines with a link to be able to compare and contrast. I couldn’t find any real evidence as to why a groupRead More →

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In: English Wine Adventures

Spring has sprung, the clocks have gone forward and the weather forecast is even promising some sunshine. Things are looking up and in even better news the 2020 English rosés are about to be released! Albury Organic Vineyard in Surrey (my local!) are set to release their Silent Pool Rosé in May but their lucky wine club members had the opportunity to take part in their annual dosage tasting. The dosage is the amount of sugar in a mixture of wine and sugar that is used to top up the wines just before bottling. This is typically more associated with the sparkling wine making process toRead More →

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In: Tasting at Home

Blind tasting can be a great way to expand your wine palate and get you out of your comfort zone. The ‘I don’t like Chardonnay…or Sauvignon’ argument, depending on which way you swing, is always entertaining when people don’t know what they’re drinking. And testing people’s boundaries with some more unusual grapes is half the fun too. I recently arranged a virtual blind tasting for a group of friends who like their burgundy’s so I set myself the challenge of finding some wines I hoped they’d like but from places they perhaps wouldn’t think to choose. We tasted five wines but the knockout favourite whiteRead More →

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Being separated from friends and loved ones has been the absolute worst consequence of the past year. What I wouldn’t give to be sat at a wine bar having a good old catch up…hopefully soon. But my lovely friends have been gracious enough to be my guinea pigs for some DIY tastings where even virtual life couldn’t prevent the usual merriment and subsequent “need for a cold flannel over the eyes”* the next morning. *genuine hangover cure for one of my pals; sadly she wouldn’t let me share the photo evidence… For our latest virtual event I wanted to use it as an excuse toRead More →

ripe grape on green branch

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In: English Wine Adventures

England is really putting itself on the map of the world of wine, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Brit. I have tasted some delicious sparkling, white and rose wines over the past couple of years and I have to say I feel excited every time I ‘drink local’. The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly made me re-think what it means to be at home…all the time…but it really has made me appreciate my surroundings. Country walks, home-grown fruit and veg and visiting local vineyards were some of my 2020 highlights. So what have I been drinking… English sparkling wines are quite franklyRead More →